London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

A War-Era Prefab Makes Way for a Breezy Bungalow in Los Angeles

A War-Era Prefab Makes Way for a Breezy Bungalow in Los Angeles

Built atop the footprint of a home constructed during World War I, Pink House by And And And Studio captures the essence of California living.

Los Angeles’s Atwater Village is a neighborhood dense with small family homes built mostly between 1920 and 1960. Among them stood an outdated and decrepit dwelling that had been constructed during World War I. When Daniel Rabin and Annie Ritz of local architecture and design firm And And And Studio were brought on to renovate the home, they discovered it had been built as part of a wartime effort wherein women were enlisted to construct housing out of prefabricated wall panels.



"Very cool history," says Rabin, "but we had walls built out of two-by-two-foot lumber and brick foundations."

That was just the start. "[It] was in terrible shape: dark, dank, rotten, and a series of ad hoc additions over time made for a cramped and confusing layout," says Rabin. "The client wanted to transform the house into something modern, livable, and unique. Sounds straightforward, but the existing conditions and size of the site made for some interesting problems to solve."



Discovering that much of the house was not salvageable, the duo set to work crafting a new home on the existing footprint. "We wanted to acknowledge the history and context, creating a house that fit in with its neighbors but also stood out," says Rabin. "Rebuilding on the existing footprint meant we could capture more interior volume and height."

The new 1,500-square-foot home prioritizes larger rooms over circulation space with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a combined kitchen, dining, and living area that spills out onto an exterior deck. "One of our favorite aspects is how we reconfigured the entrance," notes Rabin. "We flipped the entrance to the middle of the house, built a ‘tower’ that splits it into a private front half and a public back half, and essentially eliminated hallways."



While Rabin and Ritz overhauled the layout to meet today’s standards, materials nod to the home’s prefabricated roots. Exterior cement panels in different patterns and densities create visual interest, complementing a traditional board and batten system. Inside, painted MDF panels with relief cuts create a modern texture that runs through the home. "We were experimenting with how to achieve different textures using common construction materials," explains Rabin.

The resulting home draws on its storied past to write a new future for the owners. "They are a young family and this is their first home, so they came to the table with many goals and aspirations," says Rabin. "They wanted to capture the quintessential California style of living, with areas flowing from inside to outside, and lots of bright, sunny spaces to move through."


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×